In the latest wave of attacks on Odesa, several other historic buildings have also been destroyed…reports Asian Lite News
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday said that he held a phone conversation with the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on defending Odesa following the daily attempts by Russia to destroy Odesa’s historic centre.
Zelenskyy took to his official Twitter account and said, “Had a phone call with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom @RishiSunak. Spoke about Russia’s daily attempts to destroy Odesa’s historic centre and port infrastructure. We must defend Odesa.”
Yesterday, the Russian missile strikes that killed at least one and injured many, destroyed a famous Orthodox cathedral in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, reported CNN on Monday.
The largest church structure in Odesa is the Transfiguration Cathedral. It was consecrated in 1809 and later demolished in 1936 during the Soviet era. However, when Ukraine became an independent nation, the structure underwent a reconstruction.
In the latest wave of attacks on Odesa, several other historic buildings have also been destroyed.
Zelenskyy further discussed the need to strengthen its defense cooperation and the urgent need to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
“Ukraine urgently needs to strengthen its air defense to protect its historical heritage and continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative. We discussed our further defense cooperation, the course of Ukrainian offensive operations. I outlined the current defense needs of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy tweeted.
The agreement that had permitted Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports a year ago, despite the war, to help alleviate a global food crisis, was terminated last week by Moscow, which claimed that the requirements for the extension had been disregarded.
Zelenskyy further said in his tweet, “Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and I noted the adoption by the G7 of the Joint Declaration of Support for Ukraine at the NATO Summit in Vilnius and the subsequent accession of other countries to it. We also coordinated future steps to fill it with concrete security guarantees on a bilateral basis.”
During a telephonic conversation with NATO Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg on July 22, Zelenskyy discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during the Vilnius summit and further actions regarding the integration of Ukraine into NATO.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba condemned the intention of certain countries to continue blocking Ukraine’s grain exports to the European Union (EU).
“It is unacceptable. The demand by some countries to extend the EU restriction after September 15 also goes against their own interests,” Kuleba was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
Ukraine works closely with partners and neighbours to resolve the issue, the minister added. In May, the European Commission imposed a ban on grain exports from Ukraine to five European countries.
According to media reports, last week, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania voiced their intent to extend the ban, which expires on September 15, to protect the interests of their farmers.
Russian drones destroy grain warehouses
Russian drones reportedly have attacked Ukraine’s Danube ports of Reni and Izmail, destroying grain warehouses and other facilities.
The attacks, using Iranian-supplied drones, follow Russia’s withdrawal this month from the Black Sea deal that allowed Ukraine to export its grain and threats by both Moscow and Kiev to target civilian carriers visiting ports, The Guardian reported.
“Russia hit another Ukrainian grain storage overnight. It tries to extract concessions by holding 400 million people hostage. I urge all nations, particularly those in Africa and Asia who are most affected by rising food prices, to mount a united global response to food terrorism,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, wrote on Twitter on Monday, without identifying the location of the target.
“Warehouses where grain crops were stored were destroyed, tanks for storing other types of cargo were damaged. There was a fire in one of the production premises, which was promptly extinguished,” local police were quoted as saying by the news outlet.
The facilities are just across the river from Nato-member Romania.
Officials say more than 60,000 tonnes of grain have been destroyed in the past week, the BBC reported.
Odesa head Oleh Kiper, whose region also covers the Danube ports of Reni and Izmail, said in his Telegram channel that Russia had attacked the infrastructure there for four hours with Iranian-made drones.
He said a grain hangar and tanks for storage were destroyed. Other local officials say three warehouses were bombed.
Three drones out of about 15 involved in the attack were destroyed by air defences, Kiper added.